New Orleans’ top tourism promoter blames residents for new orders from Mayor LaToya Cantrell to close bars and large public hangouts in the closing days of the Mardi Gras season, and encourage visitors to come to the city to celebrate carnival.
“Our own residents created a dilemma for the government,” said Stephen Perry, CEO of New Orleans & Co. Friday in an email to members of the bureau. “It was not the small number of responsible tourists we received or the majority of our citizens and businesses.”
Bars will be closed, people will have to pass through checkpoints to get to major carnival spots like Bourbon and Frenchman Street, …
Perry called Cantrell’s decision to close bars, ban the sale of go-cup spirits, and shut down popular areas at night “ very problematic, ” saying it will harm small businesses and destroy his agency’s brand. with ‘clumsy city messages’.
“But this is where we are when the locals do stupid things and the city’s compliance and rapid response are weak or non-existent in real time,” Perry wrote.
In an interview on Saturday, Perry said that “95% of New Orleanians do an excellent job and are well behaved and listen to the mayor and have listened to national leaders.”
Inspectors found patrons inside, exposed and served after the mandatory closing time
He said his email referred to households mixing and spreading the coronavirus, which caused many outbreaks during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays, and large groups of unmasked people in bars popular among young adults.
“What the mayor is so frustrated about, we agree,” Perry said. “And that’s that there are small groups of people in New Orleans [that] just keep defying logic and don’t wear masks. … It’s the mixing of households. It congregates in great numbers without taking social distance. ”
In the email, Perry said it was “a shame that young people, especially students and many other residents of the area” did not follow the safety rules and held large, maskless gatherings. He was referring to recent social media posts showing people congregating on Bourbon Street and “a favorite bar of all of us.”
The office of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Sunday called a video in which a large crowd of people wrapped up on Bourbon Street this weekend “unac …
Perry said he was referring to Monkey Hill, a bar in Uptown that recently came under fire when a private party for 40 people turned into a much larger event.
“For me, it’s a stupid personal decision to get together with large groups of people cramming into a room without security protocols,” Perry said Saturday. “It’s bad for the economy and disrespectful to family and friends.”
New Orleans and Co. is a privately held tourism promotion company that is partially government-funded and acts as a marketing agency for the city. Perry’s email went to about 1,000 members, spokesman Kelly Schulz said.
Stephen Perry, CEO of Orleans & Co.
Perry told members, including hotel and restaurant managers, to encourage friends and customers to visit New Orleans for what’s left of Carnival. He said tourists “still need to come and maybe have more fun than ever.”
The email was sent the day after Louisiana officials warned that a new coronavirus bout is likely due to a more contagious variant recently circulating in the state.
Less than a week after Tulane University reported its all-time peak in daily coronavirus cases, the university said the recent rise …
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is believed to be a whopping 50% more transmissible than the coronavirus that was detected in the US in early 2020 and has become the dominant strain in the UK and Ireland. Scientists are reviewing evidence suggesting it may be more deadly.
Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday told Louisiana residents to enjoy Carnival, but to limit gatherings to their own family members.
“There’s not much fun when you find out someone has contracted COVID at one of these meetings,” said Edwards. “And then there’s even less fun the next time you get together and that person isn’t there because they’re in the hospital or dead.”
The Louisiana Department of Health is redoubling efforts to improve surveillance of new and more contagious variants of the coronaviru …
Louisiana recorded 1,000 COVID-19 deaths in three weeks from meetings, travel, and activities related to the fall and winter vacations, Edwards said.
New Orleans & Co. will launch safety and responsible behavior messages between now and Mardi Gras, underlining that restaurants and hotels are still open.
“Our main goal is to keep this city as safe as possible while keeping our businesses operating as safely as possible,” said Perry.
Emily Woodruff covers public health for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate as a member of the Report For America Corps.